How do you find the upper bound of a measurement?

To find the upper bound of a measurement, add half the precision of the measurement to the measured value.

When you take a measurement, it is often rounded to a certain degree of precision. For example, if you measure something to the nearest centimetre, the actual value could be slightly more or less than the measured value. The upper bound is the highest possible value that the actual measurement could be, given the precision.

Let's say you measure a length as 5 cm to the nearest centimetre. The precision here is 1 cm. To find the upper bound, you take half of this precision (which is 0.5 cm) and add it to the measured value. So, the upper bound would be 5 cm + 0.5 cm = 5.5 cm.

This method works for any level of precision. If you measure something to the nearest tenth (0.1), the precision is 0.1, and half of that is 0.05. So, if your measurement is 7.3, the upper bound would be 7.3 + 0.05 = 7.35.

Understanding upper bounds is important in ensuring that measurements are accurate and reliable, especially in fields like science and engineering where precision is crucial. It helps you to know the maximum possible value that a measurement could be, which can be very useful in calculations and when setting tolerances.